North Carolina Tar Heels: ACC to extend expansion invitations

Although the North Carolina Tar Heels disagreed, the ACC has voted to extend invitations to three schools in an effort to expand the conference.

As much as the North Carolina Tar Heels tried to avoid it, the Atlantic Coast Conference has elected to push forward with their attempt at expansion.

Pete Thamel broke the news early on Friday morning that the ACC Presidents and Chancellors have voted in favor of extending invitations to Stanford, California, and SMU. If all three accept these invitations, it would push the league to a total of 18 teams (17 for football).

Late Thursday night, a statement surfaced from the University of North Carolina that reiterated the school’s stance on this potential expansion. None of the recent developments have changed the Tar Heels’ minds, as the university is still against this potential expansion route.

In order to have this vote approved, one of the four schools who originally voted “No” had to switch their vote. Those schools that originally denied the idea (along with North Carolina) were Clemson, Florida State, and NC State.

Given how vocal Florida State has been in this matter, it’s unlikely that they changed their perspective, and Clemson is another program that hasn’t seemed too keen on this idea.

That leaves NC State as the likely culprit to flip their original vote.

With this development, you’d have to think that a potential parting between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Atlantic Coast Conference is in the future plans. As the ACC tries to “keep up with the Joneses,” they are making a move that doesn’t make much geographical sense, as you now have to wonder what the future of the North Carolina Tar Heels looks like with regard to what conference they’ll elect to be a part of in the future.

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